Capital Letters
Singular Plural Prefered Alternate/Title Seraph Seraphim the Most Holy Cherub Cherubim Guardian(s) Ofanite Ofanim Wheel(s) Elohite Elohim Power(s) Malakite Malakim Virtue(s) Kyriotate Kyriotates Dominiation(s) Mercurian Mercurians Intercessionist(s) reliever relievers LE uses Helper(s) in her own fiction) Menunite Menunim Nephallite Nephallim Grigori Grigori Balseraph Balseraphs Liar(s), Serpent(s) Djinn Djinn Stalker(s) Calabite Calabim Destroyer(s) Habbalite Habbalah Punisher(s) Lilim Lilim Daughter(s), Tempter(s), Temptress(es) Shedite Shedim Fleshless, Corruptor(s) Impudite Impudites Taker(s) imp imps gremlin gremlins Pachadite Pachadim demonling demonlings The secondary alternate names in the main book may also be used, but the prefered alternates are clearer, generally. Secondary alternate names are for times when there's just _too_ many primary and alternate names. Common (mis)usages: Authors should avoid these, but characters might use them. Plural Seraphs Cherubs Misusages that should *only* be found in quotes, mangled by a character: Singular Plural Malak [A singular Malakite... Kyrio Kyrios Grig, Grigi Grigs, Grigi in "Grig-kin" for the Children of the Grigori Bal in Balseraph Habbie Habbies hate that... Lil in Lilim, when she's not around Imp(udite) --------------->get shortened to "Imp," but not around *real* Impudites (and maybe not around real imps). anything taking the singular and adding a "s" -- Calabites, Habbalites, Shedites, Lilims, etc. Band/Choir attunements should be listed in the form of: Singular of Word or Singular of Superior, with the first being prefered. I.e.,: "The Elohite of Creation attunement" or "Attunements: Elohite of Creation, Mercurian of Creation." (Yes, we've done it Plural of Superior/Word in the past, but this makes weirdities.) Servitors are listed as "Choir/Band Rank of Word" or sometimes "of Superior. Those working for someone else are Singular of Word, in service to Superior/Word. (Using the Superior's name is more favored for "in service to".) Capitalizations: means there's a conflict in the text; the listed Accuracy [the bonus to hit things with a weapon, also "Acc" in tables angel(s) Angel of Word -- use only for Word-bound. If you mean a servitor of someone (as in, "angel of War," then either don't begin the sentence with "Angel" or use "Angel of Michael" or "Servitor of War." Archangels artifact(s) ethereal, celestial *attunement(s) *(attunement when used with its proper name) e.g. Transubstantiation attunement Band/Choir *Band/Choir Attunement(s) & Servitor Attunement(s) words are capped, attunement alone is not bodhisattva(s) Body hit(s) Body cast a Song - do _not_ use this; Songs are performed. Charisma - in the format "Charisma -2"; max bonus from Charisma and Charisma (Sex Appeal) combined is +3 total; max negative Charisma is -2. Cathedral(s) title often capitalized: e.g., Halls of Progress. CD -- check digit or check die, used only in formulas where "check digit" would be cumbersome. celestial(s) (as in, an angel or a demon; frequently miscapped, watch it!) Celestial Force(s) celestial form celestial realm(s) (also, "celestial plane(s)") Chapter(s) - Chapter numbers ARE NOT USED in _In Nomine_ books! If you refer to a chapter (e.g., "Chapter 5"), be sure to give either a p. 00 reference, or phrase it as "Chapter 5, Humans"! characteristic(s) as Will, Perception, etc., which *are* capitalized max out at 12 for any characteristic! Humans at 10. character points check digit(s) "CD" in formulas where "check digit" would be cumbersome. Corporeal Force(s) corporeal realm (there's only one; also, "corporeal plane") d666 demon(s) Demon of Word -- use only for Word-bound. Same confusion-reducing stuff as per "Angel of Word" demonling(s) (imps, gremlins and wimpier...) Demon Prince(s) Demon Princess(es) destiny and Destiny -- one is a noun for someone's ultimate disposition in life, the other is a Word. Be kind to editors and capatilize the Word, but not the mere noun... Note: destiny = GOOD future. (Do not say "dark destiny.") Diabolical noun, generally, when used as a synonym for demon *diabolical adjective Disfavored (the term for Outcasts and Renegades as a set -- as an adjective or as "the Disfavored.") Discord (same plural; not "Discords" unless you are naming them; e.g., "the Merciful, Aura, and Crippled Discords" but "he has a lot of Discord" is prefered to "he has many Discords.") Discordant dissonance ("notes of" or "dissonant tones" for plural) Dissonance Conditions *Distinction(s) - used only for celestial Distinctions -- Vassal/Knight, etc. disturbance(s) confuse disturbance with dissonance! Domain(s) - a Principality, Cathedral or ethereal Domain. dreamland(s), dreamscape(s) Earth (the corporeal realm) enchanter(s) (creators of artifacts) Essence (Essence has no units, currently. Refer to it as "4 Essence" -- numeral, no units, then Essence.) Ethereal Force(s) ethereal form or ethereal body -- NOT EXIST! (p. IN52.) ethereal gods, aka pagan gods. ethereal realm(s) (also, "ethereal plane(s)") ethereal spirit(s) Fall in what happens when an angel becomes a demon Fallen, a - a new demon, ex-angel. Fallen, the - often refers to the demons who Fell _originally._ familiar(s) reliever, imp, gremlin, or demonling which has a vessel and serves another being fate and Fate -- one is a noun for someone's ultimate disposition in life, the other is a Word. Be kind to editors and capatilize the Word, but not the mere noun... Note: fate = BAD future. Features (replacement word for limitations for artifacts. Also used for Tethers) Specific Features are capitalized (eg Convenience Features, Use Features, etc) Force(s) go above 18 for non-Superiors! Or 15 for humans. Forces of a character are expressed as "9-Force" or "4-Force" -- numeral, then hyphenated. Geas(es) -- when used as a noun, or as a Discord. to some characters, but not authors geas(-ed, -ing) -- the verb. Geas hook - The term for the state of "you get to resist with a Will roll." If the person can no longer defy the Geas without dissonance/damage, then it's a full-blown Geas. Before that, it's a hook or Geas hook. go celestial gremlin(s) Heart(s) Heaven Hell Hellsworn -- another term for a Soldier of Hell) hook -- see Geas hook. Host -- the angelic side host(s) -- what a Kyrio or Shedite uses human(s) imp(s) Infernal(s) noun, sometimes used as a synonym for demon infernal adjective, *except* for Interventions Intervention(s) or Infernal; sometimes Demonic or Diabolic invoke - a Geas, a Superior, a relic, a Song, etc. Judgment -- Judgement level(s) (as a generic term for skills or Discord) Limbo living artifact(s) Marches, Border Marches, Far Marches, Farthest Marches Mind hits Mind Muhammed - the prefered spelling for Mohammed. mummy (-ies) mundane(s) Numinous Corpus plural -- no Corpii. perform - invoke; what you do with a Song; NOT "cast"! Fiction may have someone "Sing healing," but that is not likely to come up in rulebooks. Power - damage-bonus that weapons do; negative Power is possible Protection - damage-reduction of something -- if negative, increase damage! redemption (redeem, etc.) reliever(s) relic(s) reliquary(-ies) Remnant(s) - what's left after a non-human's lost all his Celestial Forces. resonance(s) - (almost never used in the singular) **resonate - (is this used for the verb of "using a resonance" anywhere but in the LE's own fiction?) Resource(s) Rite(s) - a ritual that either gives Essence to an ethereal, or grants Essence to the performing being. Role(s) - (Also, limits the amount of Status! Status level cannot exceed Role level) Saint(s) - an In Nomine Soldier of God, returned in a vessel saint(s) - J. Random person named a saint by humans. Seneschal(s) - minimum 13 Forces, 99% of the time Wordbound to their Tether. Seraph Cherub, Lilim, Impudite, etc. servant(s) Servitor(s) - the common sort of minion for Superiors Sex Appeal - Previous term for a specified Charisma. Should now be in the form of: "Charisma +# (sex appeal)" Likewise, any other specialized Charismas should be in the form of: "Charisma +# (reputation/intimidating/etc.)" The maximum amount of specialized Charisma and general Charisma cannot exceed 3, _total_. skill(s) -- are always capitalized: e.g., Fighting, Tracking, Emote. Soldier(s) God/Hell; mundane soldiers aren't capped Song(s) *(is 'Celestial/Ethereal/Corporeal' capitalized when put with Song?) e.g. Celestial Song of Attraction Yes. sorcerer(s) Soul hit(s) Soul Status (when refering to the Status of a Role; cannot be above the Role's level! Format is "Status/#" for celestials, not "Status: #". Format is Status # for humans.) Superior(s) for AA/DP -- immediate boss is "superior"; take care to phrase sentences so this is obvious; "immediate superior" is also used. suggested that one's immediate superior could also be called: boss, supervisor, director or conductor (for that musical motif), chief, master (maybe for the diabolicals), mentor (for the divine) Synonyms for one's Superior are generally "Master," "Lord," or "Boss." Superiors nearly always always get a capital letter, though a Prince could also be a "dark lord." "Boss" should be a tertiary synonym except for less formal Servitors, or ones who have a "professional" relationship with their Superior (Marc, Jean, Eli, maybe Janus, Kobal, maybe Nybbas, perhaps some others I'm blanking on as I type). Symphony, the the "True Symphony" symphony (-ies) demons have, aka "personal symphony" talisman(s) target number and *unofficially* "TN"; expand if at all possible! Tether(s) (see the _Liber Castellorum_ for Tether-specific terms) Toughness (in the format of "Toughness: +2" -- only 2 levels, max, and only for humans). Trauma, Traumatized undead (both plural and singular - "an undead") vampire(s) vessel(s) (aka corporeal vessels; in the format Vessel/1; only non-mortals get to have vessels.) Vessels cannot be traded among Servitors. the War (referencing the battle between Heaven and Hell, or Baal's Word) Word Word-bound *zombi(s) zombie When describing skills in a character writeup, the format is as follows: Skill/Level (Specialty, if any) as in: Knowledge/4 (Nuclear Physics), Small Weapon/2 (Knife), etc. There are a number of skills that DO NOT exist by themselves, that MUST have a specialty listed after them. They include: Artistry Knowledge Languages Large Weapon Ranged Weapon Small Weapon Survival The skill listing, "Large Weapon/3" is meaningless. The large weapon must be specificied (and no, we haven't defined the possible categories). Some examples would be Sword, Spear, Club, Chainsaw, Chrysler Building (for a sufficiently strong character), etc. Oddly enough, Driving as written on p. 74 of In Nomine does not need a specialty. Cars, trucks and motorcycles are covered, though. Exotic vehicles would probably require a specialty. (Driving/# (Piloting), for instance.) Gene Seabolt reminds me Scott of one more special case, when a character has more than one specialty of the same skill. Format that special case like this: Skill (Specialty One/Level, Specialty Two/Level, Specialty Three/Level) Gene's example was: Ranged Weapon (Chrysler Building/1, Wienermobile/3, My Ego/7) (However, skills do not go above 6! We'll make an exception for Gene's ego...) *** Songs, on the other hand, are formatted thusly: Name (Plane/Level), as in: Healing (Celestial/6), Attraction (Corporeal/2, Ethereal/1), and so on. Order is "Song (Corporeal, Ethereal, Celestial)." Two exceptions: The Song of Thunder, while considered Corporeal for game purposes (IN, p. 84), cuts across all three planes so is listed simply as: Thunder/Level -- Thunder/3, or Thunder/6, or whatever. (As are all other Songs, such as Possession, that have only one "version".) And the family of Numinous Corpus Songs (p. 82) are listed by the type, as in: Fangs/3, Tongue/1, Horns/5, etc. *** I know we've already published character writeups here and there where these rules haven't been followed. Pointing that out will win you no friends here, but if anyone spots one that could be passed on to the Errata Coordinator, that would be helpful. ---- The In Nomine style for page references in other books is, in parentheses, the common full name of the book (without subtitles or cycle numbers) in bold italic, comma in bold italic, p., space, the page number. Do not use the word "See" at the front. Examples: (Fall of the Malakim, p. 00) (Infernal Player's Guide, p. 00) (Night Music, p. 00) ---- When doing a Seneschal, the format is thus (where CAPITAL LETTERS are being used to designate a variable. DO NOT put the variable itself in all caps!): Word-bound Seneschal: @C-Head:NAME @D-Head:Seneschal of TETHER'S NAME, @D-Head:CHOIR/BAND TITLE of WORD Attuned Seneschal: @C-Head:NAME @D-Head:CHOIR/BAND TITLE of WORD stuff Attunements: stuff, Seneschal (attuned to TETHER'S NAME) ** General Character format: @C-Head:NAME Word-bound @D-Head: Angel/Demon/Seneschal of WORD/TETHER'S NAME @D-Head:CHOIR/BAND TITLE of WORD no distinctions, then "Title" is either "Servitor" or absent (if in good standing) For Renegade and Outcasts, the last D-head reads: Renegade/Outcast CHOIR/BAND TITLE of WORD. if no Distinctions, "title" is either "Servitor" or absent. For those in service to someone, the last D-Head reads: CHOIR/BAND TITLE of WORD in service to NAME if no Distinctions, "title" is either "Servitor" or absent. The rest of the character sheet should be in this format (those are tabs after all the numbers): @BODY:Vignette, if any. @IN STATS:Corporeal Forces - # Strength # Agility # @IN STATS:Ethereal Forces - # Intelligence # Precision # @IN STATS:Celestial Forces - # Will # Perception # @BODY:Vessel(s): Vessel1/# (gender/description "female" or "old lady"), Charisma +/-# (type) any Charisma and if any "type"; Vessel2/# (gender/description), Charisma +/-# (type); etc. there is only one vessel, leave off the "(s)" @BODY:Role(s): "Name," any Role Title1/#, Status/#; "Name," Role Name2/#, Status/#; making sure that if Roles are attached to a vessel, this is obvious. If there is only one Role, leave off the "(s)" @BODY:Skills: etc. @BODY:Songs: etc. @BODY:Attunements: CHOIR/BAND SINGULAR of WORD, etc, any Distinctions. @BODY:Malakite Oaths: Malakite; a Malakite will have oaths! If he does not, he needs to. @BODY:Discord: any; a CALABITE will have Discord! If he does not, he needs to. @BODY:Artifacts: any @BODY:Special Rites: any @BODY:Special Ability (-ies): any; these are where "cute abilities" of the Word-bound should probably go @BODY:The Rest Of The Description. ---- A comment on usage of words, titles, and group-names: Do _NOT_ come up with elegant names which cross over with already-defined IN-usages! It's happened at least twice (both times before I had full control), and it's caused problems both times. So don't do it, because the next time it happens, I _will_ prune it. ---- Some useages noted from various non-canon places (some of which may become canon in the future): "The Horde" (the opposite to the Host; "I bet we get alternate panty-raids from the Host and the Horde in IOU dorms") "Halos" (a synonym for angels, used by demons) Things to call Servitors: Blandine/Dreams - Dreamer(s), Dreamie(s) David/Stone - Davidian(s), Stonie(s) Dominic/Judgment - Dominican(s), Judge(s), Judgmenter(s) (or merely poker-spines) Eli/Creation - Creationer(s) Gabriel/Fire - Gabrielite(s) Janus/the Wind - Windy(s) Jean/Lightning - Jeanite(s), Sparkie(s) Jordi/Animals - Jordian(s) Laurence/the Sword - Laurencian(s), Swordie(s) (or poker-spines) Michael/War - Michaelite(s), Michaline(s), Warrior(s) Novalis/Flowers - Flowerchildren Andrealphus/Lust - Lustie(s). Andrealphan(s), Andrealphite(s), Andrean(s), Andreite(s) Asmodeus/the Game - Asmodean(s), Gamester(s), (and spooks, spys, or other unflattering things) Baal/the War - Warrior(s), Baalite(s) (yes, "Warrior" is potentially confusing...) Beleth/Nightmares - Belethian(s) Belial/Fire - Haagenti/Gluttony - Glutton(s), Haagentian(s) Kobal/Dark Humor - Joker(s), Jester(s), Comedian(s), Kobalite(s) Kronos/Fate - Malphas/Factions - Factioner(s), Malphan(s) Saminga/Death - Samingan(s) Valefor/Theft - Thief/Thieves Vapula/Technology - Vapulan(s), Technologist(s), Techie(s) Lilith/Freedom - Lilim (well, often...), the Free (again, almost exclusively applied to Lilim) Some slang for characters or mostly in-character comments. Seraph(im)/Balseraph(s) - snake(s), six-eyes (derogatory, either way) Malaki(te/m) - black-wing(s) (casual, often used by demons) Mercurian(s) - fluff-wing(s) (usually derogatory) Lilim - greenie(s) (derogatory) --emccoy@nh.ultranet.com // arcangel@prismnet.com In Nomine Line Editor GURPS, Roleplayers, In Nomine stuff; Art: http://www.prismnet.com/~arcangel/